Tips and Tricks for the Garden

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I know we had this before but it has found its way to post-heaven. Please post your favorite tip or trick you use for gardening.

This is for spraying anything you don't want carried by wind to other plants. Take a plastic jug and cut the bottom out. Place the jug around the plant you want to spray. Spray into the small opening and only what is inside the jug will receive the spray.

sparklemama

Location: Western Washington

Posted: Jun-13-2005 at 10:44pm

That is a great idea Debbie. I am always concerned about overspray. I will be using that for sure next time.

I like to use pop cans in the bottom of my big containers. I never have potshards but my kids and hubby have lots of cans. So thats how I recycle and use less dirt..lol.

Screaming Eagle

Location: Puget Sound corridor

Posted: Jun-14-2005 at 1:40pm

Sometimes veggies come wrapped with this green velcro-like strips (lettuce, etc.) the make great garden ties--and you can even manage them one-handed unlike things you have to tie. Plus, it's recycling!

Red Hare

Location: Oregon coast

Posted: Jun-17-2005 at 1:16pm

Hey, Sparkle, those pop cans are worth a nickel each here in Oregon, so I prefer to take them back to the store for a refund. So what I do when I have more pot depth than I have plant roots is put some of those syrofoam packing peanuts in a plastic bag and place it in the bottom of the pot, then add soil and plant. It keeps the pot a little bit lighter and I save on potting soil, but it still allows good drainage. By putting the peanuts in a bag, I avoid having to pick them out of the soil when I eventually add it to my garden, plus they don't fly all over the neighborhood. (I NEVER dispose of those darned things except in a closed bag. I have visions of them floating around the landfill, and being swept by a breeze into the woods where they just don't belong.)

Fun topic - can't wait to read more!

Phlox

Location: Washington, Southwestern

Posted: Jun-18-2005 at 6:42pm

Something I tried this year on a couple of tall plants that flop over when it rains is the round metal tomato stakes, I'm thinking of getting more of them, they've worked so well. I don't like my plants laying on the ground, the slugs and bugs get to them easy enough as it is.

Does anyone else have other suggestions besides bamboo stakes?

Good suggestion Debbie, I don't like the over-spray either.

Garden Spider

Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor

Posted: Jun-19-2005 at 7:42am

When I prune woody shrubs (such as the Forsythia), I save the long, sturdy canes, let them dry out thoroughly, and use them to stake up plants. Letting them dry ensures they won't root when they're stuck back in the ground.

Barb

Fern

Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills

Posted: Jun-19-2005 at 8:52am

I too save my prunings for stakes. I leave some forking twigs on the stakes if possible because they really help to hold up the plants in a more natural shape. And some times I don't even have to tie them because the twigs catch them. The twigs look natural too. It is a little like the pea sticks the British use. In the fall after I've cut down the plant I sometimes just put it's stake behind or underneath a near by large shrub so it's near by and ready to go for next year. This I figured out because I am a lazy gardener.

Fern

Garden Spider

Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor

Posted: Jun-19-2005 at 7:07pm

This is so basic, I'll bet everybody does it already, but I bought a lightweight plastic tool caddy that carries trowels, 3 different clippers, the bulb planter, plant tags, a pencil to mark them with, a pocket knife, ties, weed diggers, gloves, etc. Whenever I go out to garden, I have everything with me. If a plant needs to be marked, I have the tags and pencil. If something needs to be staked, I have the ties. I may have to go back into the garage for a large shovel or rake, but never have to hunt for hand tools, tags, ties, or my gloves.

I also bought a caddy that fits onto the wheel barrow--it holds a cold drink or a cup of coffee, plus the cell phone, as well as tools.

I just like being able to pick up the tool caddy and get to work, without having to decide what I might need, and then having to stop work to go get it.

Barb

basilgirl

Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro

Posted: Jun-19-2005 at 8:03pm

sorry to say i dont have the room, but always liked the idea of using a mailbox in the garden to hold gardening tools.

Lisa A

Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro

Posted: Jun-20-2005 at 9:51am

I've used nursery pots, tipped upside down, to take up room in my big containers. I notch out along the lip or I sit the pot lip up slightly with shards of broken pottery to allow for drainage at the bottom of the container (the nursery pot drainage holes help some but not enough, IME).

sparklemama

Location: Western Washington

Posted: Jun-20-2005 at 10:13am

Barb, where did you find the plastic tool caddy? I really like the sound of it. I just wear an apron when i go out in the garden. As I walk out the door i pick up my needed tools and fill the pockets up. The bad thing is all the weight in the apron pulls on the strings around my neck giving a killer neck ache by the end of the day.

I had not thought of using my prunings as stakes. What a great idea. I wish I had knowen when I pruned my apple tree. Those would have been some wonderful stakes. I do know a guy out by the dump that has piles and piles of bamboo poles. You get 100 for $5.00 which works well for my pocket book.

Trish

Location: Washington, Southwestern

Posted: Jun-20-2005 at 11:49am

When I prune my garden mums to promote strong branches, I strip lower leaves off some of the cuttings and poke them back into the ground. Many of them become mum plants to share.

I've had similar luck starting woody herbs like culinary sages and rosemary in my heavy clay. If the mama plant is happy, the cuttings will probably root in similar soil.

Fern

Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills

Posted: Jun-20-2005 at 12:33pm

I should try that with my lavenders. Even with trimming they get sprawling with age and I should replace them. I planted a 'Sleeping Beauty' and 'Royal Velvet' lavender today as future replacements. The 'Fred Boutin' lavender I planted 2 years ago finaaly died, I know my conditions of cold, plant compeition, and heavy soil aren't the best for lavenders.

Fern

Garden Spider

Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor

Posted: Jun-20-2005 at 8:49pm

Sparklemama, I found the tool caddy at Lowes, back when it was still Eagle. Any of the hardware stores probably has them. It's just one of those 2-bin-with-a-handle-in-the-middle jobbies--very cheap!

Another thing I've found that I'm hooked on is those snap-on hose connectors. You can buy a basic kit, that has an adaptor for your hose, plus adaptors for sprinklers, nozzles, etc. It's so easy to just snap the ends together, instead of trying to screw and unscrew something from a hose, or a hose from the faucet.

Barb

EmilyK

Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula

Posted: Jun-21-2005 at 8:46am

Another tool-caddy idea is the "Bucket Buddy". It's a canvas apron that fits around the top of a five gallon bucket and it has a lot of pouches and holsters built into it. I bet you could get one almost anywhere--I even saw them at Fred Meyers a couple of years ago.

My "trick" is fitting all the faucets and hoses with quick-connect fittings and ball-valve-shut-off switches. This way, I never have to go back to the faucet to turn off the water and connecting hoses and attachments is a whiz.

EmilyK -- Port Orchard, WA

Sydnie

Location: Western Washington

Posted: Jun-22-2005 at 7:49am

Hi all ! Nice hints. The most helpful thing for myself that I think I ever came up with was for starting seeds. I take pots, cut off the bottoms and stick them in the garden. In these I start seeds. This way I don't weed them, LOL. And I don't have to mess with separate pots & watering. Sometimes I dig them up and plant them elsewhere & sometimes I leave them. I'm looking forward to reading more hints.

Phlox

Location: Washington, Southwestern

Posted: Jun-22-2005 at 1:30pm

Thanks for the reminder about prunings Garden Spider, I had forgotten about those. Maybe if my sprawlers had been in bloom when I pruned, I would have remembered.

I've also been know to turn an empty heavy pot upside down to sit on while I have to sit in one place for awhile to deadhead.....be carful though, some of them can collapse on/under you . I should invest in one of those little seats with wheels, which also has the handy container for garden tools and such, but then, I don't know if I could get up off it after I was down .

Libby

Location: British Columbia, Vancouver Island

Posted: Jun-22-2005 at 2:46pm

I buy rubber finger tip things at an office supply store. Put them on the fingers that make holes in your garden gloves. Put on your gloves and leave the finger tips inside when you withdraw your hand. A hugh money saver for me.

sparklemama

Location: Western Washington

Posted: Jun-22-2005 at 5:17pm

Thats a good idea Libby! I bet they would also be great for using when weeding. Would really help you get a hold of some of those plants that dont want to give up their place..lol.

cjmiller

Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley

Posted: Jun-23-2005 at 8:33am

This is an oldy but goodie-Panty hose cut into strips make useful ties for holding plants in place with a little <> to them. They do not deteriorate, rust or decompose--(Sometimes that isnt good so be careful where you toss them when you are cleaning up in the fall)! Also, I love those little seats with wheels, I dont do knees--too painful, so to get close to my work I use the cart plus the tool holder is a welcome addition...

Carol

sunpath8

Location: Western Washington

Posted: Jul-01-2005 at 11:41am
These are all great ideas!
One thing that I do...

I have (many of) my veggies in 2 10"x3" raised beds in the yard near the back door. I used some kitchen string to make a grid over the top of the boxes by stapleing the strands every foot along the top of the boxes. I find this helpful for remembering where I planted different varieties of lettuce and such. Since I'm bad at estimating sizes I can look at my grid and know exactly how much space I am giving a plant. The grid is also handy to tie bird netting to. I just twist-tie pre-cut squares over the areas I have just seeded to allow the seeds I plant to have a chance to get started before the birds/squirrels/cats get in the beds.